Would-be Labour leader Liz Kendall visited Newcastle’s Science Central to reiterate her commitment to giving more government powers to the region.

The MP was in the city to meet council leader Nick Forbes - who has backed her bid to lead the party - and “see first-hand how Labour’s city leaders are working with partners to deliver a real Northern Power House.”

She said: “I came into politics because I believe the chances you have in life should never be determined by where you were born or what your parents did.

“Yet if you grow up in the North East you have a higher chance of growing up in poverty than the national average. If you work in the North East your salary is on average lower than in other parts of the country - but you’re also less likely to be employed, because the North East has by far the highest level of unemployment in the UK.

“The problems the North East faces aren’t going to be solved by Westminster or Whitehall though - they’ll be solved right here, in your communities and neighbourhoods, by local authorities accountable to local people.

“Far too much power is held at the centre, and for too many people it can feel like decisions that affect your lives are taken far away, by people you’ve never met and in discussions you’re not invited to. That’s the old way of doing things, and its time has passed.”

The visit, to The Core, on Bath Lane, coincided with Chancellor George Osborne’s trip to the region, and Ms Kendall also used the opporunity to argue that the biggest threat to the North East is a European referendum.